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Summary

Diane and Taeko worked hard to save money for a trip to visit a close friend and her newborn baby in Hawai'i. When they contacted a commercial business establishment, Aloha Bed & Breakfast, to arrange accommodations, the owner refused to rent them a room, citing her personal discomfort with lesbian and gay couples. The owner claims that Hawai'i's law prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations does not and cannot constrain the actions of her business. Lambda Legal brought this lawsuit to protect and enforce Hawai'i's interest in eradicating discrimination and to uphold the right of all people to access public accommodations free from unfair discrimination. Given the damage to Hawai'i's antidiscrimination law that would follow if businesses could disregard the law based on business owners' personal beliefs, the Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission has also intervened in the lawsuit as a plaintiff.

History

December 19, 2011 Lambda Legal files complaint in the First Circuit Court of Hawai'i, and the Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission (HCRC) moves to intervene as a plaintiff.

(Honolulu, HI, August 4, 2014) – Lambda Legal and the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission today urged the Intermediate Court of Appeals of the State of Hawai`i to reject a new argument that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores allows a commercial business operating a bed and breakfast to refuse accommodation to a lesbian couple, and thereby violate Hawai`i’s antidiscrimination law, by invoking the business owner’s religious beliefs as a defense.
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(Honolulu, HI, April 15, 2013) – The First Circuit Court of Hawai‘i today issued a ruling in favor of a lesbian couple who filed a discrimination lawsuit against Aloha Bed & Breakfast after the business turned them away because of their sexual orientation.Link: view

Lambda Legal filed a discrimination lawsuit today in the First Circuit Court of Hawaii on behalf of a lesbian couple rejected by a commercial business establishment, Aloha Bed & Breakfast, because of the owner’s personal antigay beliefs.
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